The network physical layer is well understood in the fields of computing, networking and telecommunications. The functions of the network physical layer includes providing power, structure and cabling as needed to network equipment nodes, such as computers, routers, switches and transport equipment. Power is used to provide electricity to network equipment nodes and includes devices, such as but not limited to, power cables, power backup devices and power monitoring. Structure for network equipment nodes includes devices, such as but not limited to, racks, cabinets, boxes and enclosures. Cabling for network equipment nodes includes devices, such as but not limited to, cabling, connectors, adapters and cable routing devices.
Due to its maturity, the network physical layer is also fairly well understood by people in non-networking fields through network use in homes, offices, schools, hospitals and concert arenas. Information on the network physical layer, at different technical levels, can readily be found in books, papers, blogs and patents. Today, many people know of products that provide power, space and connectivity to network devices.
Structure for network equipment nodes is usually a rack or housing made from plastic or metal, or those in combination. In home applications the housing could provide restricted assess from children. In wiring closets and network rooms for business, the common channel rack provides the ability to stack equipment providing better utilization of building space. In data centers, the server rack or server cabinet can provide both density and security. Often the structure provides spools, tie downs and routing arcs allowing the user to better manage cabling. Recently, thermal management of networking equipment nodes has become important. The structure of the networking nodes often includes rack mounted blanking plates for separating hot aisle—cold aisle architectures. For similar reasons, rack mounted brush strips allow cables, not air, to go from the one side of the rack to other.
Power for networking equipment nodes is supplied as alternative current (“AC”) or direct current (“DC”) current at a wide range of voltages. Home and office computers typically plug into common household AC electrical wall outlets or to power strips. More computing intense applications, such as computer rooms at a business or datacenters, typically use vertical power strips mounted along a rack or smaller horizontal ones mounted within a rack space. Power has been commonly connected in the back of racks, but U.S. Pat. No. 8,472,183 to Ross et al. describes benefits for placing the power in the front of a rack. Telecommunication networks often use DC power panels that connect and provide overcurrent protection to network equipment nodes. There are a great number of power distribution products in the market supporting all the different power types and network applications.
Patch panels are a common cabling element in the physical layer of networks. Patch panels provide a location for two cables to be joined together to make a circuit. Cable types range from twisted pair, coax to fiber optic. There are a great number of actual connector types that can be applied to the ends of cables. For example, twisted pair cables used in data networks often have RJ type connectors. Coaxial cables often have BNC, TNC, SMA and type N radio frequency matched cables. Fiber optic cables can often have SC, LC, FC, ST and MPO type connectors. In addition, cables can be connected with splices, pins, sockets, punch down blocks, binding posts and terminal strips, all are considered jacks herein. Patch panels provide installation flexibility, test access points, and the ability to reconfigure connections to network equipment nodes.
With the maturing of network technologies and constant introduction of new ones, many individual network locations have become conglomeration of multiple types of racks, cables, connectors and network equipment nodes. These applications can become hard to manage, hard to scale, become cable congested causing thermal problems, or result in less than optimal utilization of space.
A prior art product that allows reconfiguration of a network is the 1RU Multifunction System from Telect, Inc (disclosed in the IDS for this application). The product has modules that fit within a chassis housing. A limitation of the product is that the design forces the module to be installed only from the front of the chassis. Another limitation is that the modules do not have a common jack interface that allows a module to support many different types of jacks—the modules are jack dependent. Another limitation is that the modules do not allow an installer to mix and match types of jacks within the same module. Another limitation is that individual jacks cannot be field installed with pre-terminated cabling. Another limitation is the module depth does not allow a user to access the back of a fiber optic jack without removing a module from a chassis and opening the module cover.
With network speeds continuing to increase, the quality of terminations and connections have become more important. Today's patch panels are usually terminated with cables in the field. Congested spaces, the need for installers to go from the front of a rack lineup and to the back, are examples of conditions that complicate and slow down installers.
One recent invention to speed up installations is U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/564,495 to Bragg. A user can install a plurality of connections in a housing to the back of a patch panel. A limitation of the invention is that the connector housing cannot be installed from the front of an installed panel because the plurality of jack sized panel openings are much smaller than the connector housing. Another limitation is that because the housing connects directly to the panel chassis, the function of the jack housing is limited to the function of the cutouts in the panel. The invention is limited to patch functionality and does not allow installers to configure the panel for applications other than patching.
In these respects, the unified network device according to the present invention substantially departs from conventional concepts of the prior art and in doing so provides a patch panel framework designed for the purpose of providing design flexibility, scalability, ease of installation, and management for the physical layer of networks.